Good Sam (1948)

In Leo McCarey’s comedy, “Good Sam,” Cary Cooper plays the titular role, Sam Clayton, a good Samaritan who enjoys the love and respect of his neighbors and town’s residents.

However, his very wife Lu (Ann Sheridan) calls him a soft touch. The reason: Sam loans a neighbor his car and ends up paying the garage bill and asking the repairman to dinner. He hen lends money that he and Lu were saving for a new home to a young couple, so that they can buy a business and raise their new baby.

Sam even takes on Lu’s brother Claude, a no-good, lazy man who won’t work once Sam gets him a job. Moreover, Sam is the one who prevents Shirley Mae, a sassy salesgirl working in the store in which Sam is General Manager, from committing suicide.

Problem is, when Sam himself needs money, there is no one he can rely on–no one offers any aid, let alone cash. Disgusted, he goes on a binge and ends up in a rescue mission. In the end, almost belatedly, Sam’s friends rally around him, and he is elevated to the position of the store’s vice president, which gains him his wife’s respect.

Cast:

Gary Cooper (Sam Clayton)

Ann Sheridan (Lu Clayton)

Ray Collins (Reverend Daniels)

Edmund Lowe (H.C. Borden)

Joan Lorring (Shirley Mae)

Clinton Sundberg (Nelson)

Minerva Urecal (Mrs. Nelson)

Louise Beavers (Chloe)

Dick Ross (Claude)

Lora Lee Michel (Lulu)

Bobby Dolan, Jr. (Butch)

Matt Moore (Mr. Butler)

Netta Packer (Mrs. Butler)

Ruth Roman (Ruthie)

Carol Stevens (Mrs. Adams)

Todd Karns (Joe Adams)

Irving Bacon (Tramp)

William Frawley (Tom)

Harry Hayden (Banker)

Irmgard Dawson, Jane Allan (Girls)

Tom Dugan (Santa Claus)

Sarah Edwards (Mrs. Gilmore)

Ruth Sanderson (Sam’s Secretary)

Marta Mitrovich (Mysterious Woman)

Mimi Doyle (Red Cross Nurse)

Franklin Parker (Photographer)

Ida Moore (Old Lady)

Florence Auer (Woman on Bus)

Dick Wessell (Bus Driver)

Sedal Bennett (Woman Chasing Bus)

Jack Gargan, Bess Flowers (Parents)

Almira Sessions (Landlady)

Garry Owens (Taxi Driver)

Stanley McKay (Young Minister)

Bert Roach (Whispering Usher)

Bob Tidwell (Telegraph Boy)

Ann Lawrence (Salvation Army Girl)

Joe Hinds, Francis Stevens (Salvation Army Workers)

Joseph Crehan (Casey)

William Haade (Taxi Driver)

Credits

Rainbow Production

Released by RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc.

Produced and directed by Leo McCarey.

Scenario: Ken Englund, based on a story by Leo McCarey and John Klorer.